The age question | An online AARP questionnaire being piloted in Maine helps businesses assess their aging workforce and figure out strategies for survival
Over the next 25 years, more than 77 million baby boomers — those born from 1946 through 1964 — will reach retirement age, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In Maine, that means over the next few decades four out of every 10 workers could say adieu to the workforce, leaving employers scrambling to stem a loss of institutional knowledge and experience.â&Copy;
But the workforce may not suffer exactly as predicted. The AARP reports 70% of boomers say they plan to work into retirement or never retire, so the businesses that cater to semi-retired or aging workers will have a leg up over those that don’t. Phyllis Cohn, communications director for AARP Maine, says businesses may have a deep well of experience to tap among older workers, many of whom boast a strong work ethic and focus, dedication and communication skills honed over decades in the professional trenches. “It’s a gold mine,” Cohn says. “Older people and older workers do bring something different to the workplace that should not be underestimated.” â&Copy;
To help businesses prepare to work with aging employees, the national AARP developed an online assessment tool businesses can use to evaluate how old their workforce is and what type of questions they should be asking themselves and their workers moving forward.â&Copy;
Mainebiz recently sat down with Cohn to discuss the online tool, Maine’s aging workforce and how human nature can impact business decisions. An edited transcript follows.â&Copy;
Mainebiz: Tell me what this workforce assessment tool does.â&Copy;
Phyllis Cohn: The AARP workforce assessment tool assists employers in assessing and planning for current and future workforce needs. The way it does that is it produces an individualized report that’s based on information an employer puts in. Then it comes out with information that can help the company assess how the aging of their workforce will impact their business. And that’s the cliff notes of what the tool is and does.â&Copy;
This tool is being piloted across the country. What’s special about Maine’s role?â&Copy;
There are 20 states working with companies to take the tool. Here in Maine what’s so exciting is working with state government. The Department of Labor took the tool. And I’ve been working with the Department of Economic and Community Development under John Richardson, who has promised me that by August 15 we will have 50 companies that have taken the tool. He has definitely made a commitment to this issue and recognizes that the economic viability of Maine business is linked to older workers and wants to make sure the business community starts to look at this and how the changing demographics are going to affect their business. As far as I know Maine is the only state involving state government this way. â&Copy;
What kind of data or recommendations does the tool generate that a company could use?â&Copy;
The first thing it does is it will show them how to understand their employee age demographics. It will break down for them exactly who their workers are and how many will be eligible for retirement in, say, blocks from 2010 to 2015 to 2020. What it will also do is it will talk to you about what is going to be important for you to consider when you’re looking at your demographics. For instance, it might be a top priority that you assess the impact of the aging workforce on your organization, and it may not be as important for you to investigate workforce accommodations. It may be a top priority that you reevaluate and build new recruitment strategies, but then it may not be as important that you look at diversity initiatives. â&Copy;
And all these things are based on the information that you would put in as answers to different questions. There’s a recruitment section that asks you things like “Do you use job fairs?” “Do you use online job boards?” “How do you get your new people in?” And then it might ask you about rehiring retirees. And it will ask you about particular practices you might use to engage your retirees. And let’s say you say “no” for things like maintaining regular communication with your retirees or having a staff person responsible for retiree relations. It might come back and tell you that this might be an area you might want to pay attention to because there may be a time in the near future you may want to bring somebody back, and it would be great if you had an ongoing relationship with your retirees. So it’s that kind of information. It will also refer you to resources that will help you start making a long-term plan.â&Copy;
What have you heard from Maine businesses that have used the tool?â&Copy;
Well, I have spoken with two. One being the Department of Labor, which has 460 staff. The other was Stonewall Kitchen [in York]. The interesting thing about the Department of Labor is they started their own study, I believe it was the middle of last year, to pull some of this kind of data together around the same time I started talking to them about using the tool. And what they ended up doing is taking this tool to augment a lot of the information they were finding. Their study was focusing on lost knowledge, which is a huge issue when it comes to older workers, because there is so much institutional knowledge that someone has from being in a company for so long. â&Copy;
[Arthur Davis at the DOL] said the tool was straightforward, less than a minute worth of instructions. He said it complemented the findings and accentuated the areas where they have challenges they need to address. The other thing he said, which is very, very important for businesses, is he’s got a foundation to move forward from. â&Copy;
[Stonewall Kitchen] took it because they recognized the workforce is changing so much with the boomers and they wanted to look if their hiring practices are reflective of what’s going on. They’ve already got some pretty innovative practices in place. They wanted to see, based on what the tool said, if they are actually on the right track. She said at first glance it looked like they were on the right track, but it brings a lot of issues top of mind that people don’t think about, some things like following your retirees, and do you have a way to keep in touch with them. Because our data here is showing that 70% of people who are currently working have no intention of retiring at 65, so what is that going to mean to your company?â&Copy;
What kind of businesses should use this tool? Can businesses that have only, say, five employees benefit?â&Copy;
The tool initially was designed for mid- to large-sized businesses. I know in Maine — what is it? — 90% of businesses have less than 20 people? But what I’ve been talking to businesses about, and what I think is very important, is this tool asks important questions whether you have 500 people or whether you have 10. If you’re a smaller business, I still think it’s worth going online, looking at the tool, and whether you input the data or not, look at those questions and then go back and start asking yourself how are these things going to affect my business.â&Copy;
Maine has the highest median age in the country and a large proportion of workers approaching retirement. Do you think Maine businesses are paying enough attention to the aging workforce issue?â&Copy;
Absolutely not. And this is probably the most important question you’re going to ask because we know on some level it’s important, but right now our data is showing that businesses are not really taking it seriously. The data is out there. There have been more articles and statistics popping up and reports in the newspaper about what is going on with the demographics in Maine. For instance, between 2000 and 2030, our 65-plus population is going to more than double from 181,000 to 397,000 people. That is absolutely huge. â&Copy;
Human nature is crisis orientated. We do it in our personal lives. We wait for a crisis to hit, then we say “Oh my gosh, I have to do a living will or have guardianship.” I think we translate this into business, too. I think a lot of the businesses in Maine have it in their peripheral vision that something is happening, that things are changing, but they’re not ready to deal with it yet. And many of them are going to wait for a crisis to hit, and by then, unfortunately, it’s going to be too late for them. â&Copy;
Whit Richardson, Mainebiz staff writer, can be reached at wrichardson@mainebiz.biz.
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